The heating element is inside of a metal canister, if the element coil is touching this canister or the bracket it is strung in, the element would be grounded and would never shut off, even in air fluff as long as the timer was turned on and the dryer plugged in. You would be feeding 240 volts thru the whole dryer at all times, including the case as every safety in the dryer would be by-passed.....every thing in this dryer is 115 volts except for the heating element. Something has your heat circuit grounded, suspect the element first... Cute Doggie!!